RNWK--RealNetworks and BackWeb Launch Real.com Music Delivery First-of-its-Kind On-Line Music Delivery Service Provides New Music Distribution and Ecommerce Opportunities for Artists, Music Publishers And Music Retailers Over 35 Million RealJukebox Consumers Can Now Discover and Automatically Receive the Digital Music They Want
PR NEWSWIRE - June 29, 2000 09:01
SEATTLE and SAN JOSE, Calif., Jun 29, 2000 /PRNewswire via COMTEX/ -- RealNetworks(R), Inc. (Nasdaq: RNWK), and BackWeb(R) Technologies (Nasdaq: BWEB) today announced the launch of Real.com(TM) Music Delivery, a revolutionary service that offers artists, music publishers and music retailers a powerful new means to introduce and distribute their music to the more than 35 million unique registered users of RealJukebox(TM). By integrating BackWeb's Polite(TM) push technology into RealJukebox, Real.com Music Delivery provides an easy way for consumers to quickly grow their music collections based on their personal music preferences. New users can download RealJukebox or Real Entertainment Center for free at real.com .
Real.com Music Delivery enables consumers to select from 7 different music categories from different music genres (e.g., classical, alternative). Each week, up to 8 new CD quality songs matching consumers' music preferences will be automatically delivered and added to their RealJukebox music collection. Using integrated BackWeb Polite push technology, these downloads occur seamlessly in the background while consumers are online and not using the full capacity of their Internet connections. The service does not impact the performance of other Internet applications such as email, file downloading, streaming media or browsing. Initial featured music downloads will include content from a wide variety of artists and music publishers including Riffage.com, Dreamworks Records, Sub Pop Records, RykoDisc, NewTechMusic, Vagrant Records, Telarc and NovaMusica.
Real.com Music Delivery provides artists, music publishers and music retailers with a broad range of opportunities including paid-for music subscriptions and promotional music distribution. For artists and their music publishers, Real.com Music Delivery provides a powerful avenue to reach out to their fan base and gain valuable exposure for their music by distributing it to consumers interested in discovering new music. For music retailers, Real.com Music Delivery will enable many ecommerce opportunities including purchasing CDs, paid-for download songs, concert tickets, artist-related web links and other relevant offerings. Real.com Music Delivery will support multiple digital music formats and digital rights management (DRM) options to support a wide variety of business models, including the ability for certain music to expire after a pre-determined amount of time.
"Real.com Music Delivery provides yet another powerful vehicle for our many content partners to promote, merchandise and deliver great music programming," said Mark Hall, vice president, Media Publishing Division, RealNetworks, Inc. "And, it enables them to connect with the more than 35 million RealJukebox users who are interested in having fresh, high quality music automatically delivered directly every day."
"RealNetworks has provided an outstanding vehicle for the profitable and sustainable development of digital music distribution over the Internet," said Ken Wirt, CEO of Riffage. "The flexibility and power of Real.com Music Delivery means we can effectively deliver the convenience of digital music to consumers while still respecting the property rights of artists."
"The launch of Real.com Music Delivery marks the widespread return of consumer-friendly push technology, and is an important milestone in our alliance with RealNetworks," said Eli Barkat, chairman and CEO of BackWeb Technologies. "We are pleased to provide the Polite push infrastructure for this revolutionary new music delivery service, and look forward to expanding the role of BackWeb as we bring rich media to millions of consumers worldwide."
More information for artists and music publishers wishing to provide content for the Real.com Music Delivery service can be found at realnetworks.com .
About BackWeb Polite Push Technology
With BackWeb's patented Polite push technology, Global 2000 companies can deliver multimedia-rich digital packages of any size or format, including audio, video, graphics and html. BackWeb's Polite Agent(TM) avoids disrupting the consumer by using only available bandwidth and politely delivering the information in the background.
About BackWeb Technologies
BackWeb Technologies is a leading provider of push for e-business solutions that enable companies to communicate time-sensitive, business-critical information throughout the extended enterprise of customers, partners and employees. Via Internet-based applications and proactive portals, corporations such as Cisco, Compaq, Hewlett-Packard, and Schlumberger Dowell have deployed BackWeb's Polite push Internet infrastructure for managing critical changes for key e-business and customer service applications. BackWeb Technologies is headquartered in San Jose, California, and Ramat Gan, Israel. For more information, visit its web site at www.backweb.com or call 800-863-0100.
About RealJukebox
RealJukebox, with over 35 million unique registered users, is the world's most popular digital media jukebox software that enables users to easily record their personal CD collections to a PC hard disk, find and download Internet music, manage their personal music collections on their PCs, and take music on the go through the use of portable music devices and CD burners. Complete information on the new features in RealJukebox 2 can be found at www.real.com/jukebox/features/ .
About RealNetworks
RealNetworks, Inc., based in Seattle, is the recognized leader in media delivery on the Internet. It develops and markets software products and services designed to enable users of personal computers and other consumer electronic devices to send and receive audio, video and other multimedia services using the Web. Consumers can access and experience audio/video programming and download RealNetworks consumer software on the Internet at real.com. RealNetworks' systems and corporate information is located on the Internet at realnetworks.com .
Statements in this news release which are not purely historical are forward-looking statements within the meaning of the U.S. Securities laws, including statements concerning the integration of BackWeb's push technology in the RealJukebox, the expectations of BackWeb and RealNetworks regarding use of Real.com Music Delivery Service, and any other statements of beliefs, plans, expectations or intentions regarding the future. Actual results could differ materially from those in such forward-looking statements. Factors that could cause actual results to differ materially include technological factors associated with the use of BackWeb's products for the Real.com Music Delivery service, market acceptance for RealNetworks services, availability of music content for such services, and the risks and uncertainties detailed from time to time in BackWeb's periodic reports and registration statements filed with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. BackWeb assumes no obligation to update any forward-looking statements contained in this press release.
NOTE: BackWeb is a registered trademark and Polite Agent is a trademark of BackWeb Technologies. RealNetworks, Real.com and RealJukebox are trademarks or registered trademarks of RealNetworks, Inc. All other trademarks are the property of their respective owners.
SOURCE RealNetworks, Inc.
CONTACT: Theresa Campbell of Catapult Partners, Inc., 650-524-1720, or theresa@catapultinc.com, for BackWeb; or investors, Julie Rowinski of BackWeb Technologies, 408-933-1724, or jrowinski@backweb.com; or Kari Day of RealNetworks, 206-674-2358, karid@real.com /Company News On-Call: prnewswire.com or fax, 800-758-5804, ext. 119814
URL: real.com
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